Gelsenkirchen, 15th June 2016 - On Tuesday, 14 June 2016, the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Masterflex SE was held in the tradition-steeped Schloss Horst again in Gelsenkirchen, where the company is headquartered, with strong participation by the shareholders. With 55.3% of the share capital represented, attendance was higher than the previous year's very respectable level. This is probably attributable to the increased involvement of shareholders with large blocks of shares as well as to a slight decrease in free float as compared to the previous year.
The Supervisory Board members proposed by the management, Dr Gerson Link and Jan van der Zouw, were elected by the AGM with a large majority (see table below). In addition, Mr Bischoping was elected as honorary chairman of the Supervisory Board and received applause and recognition for his many years of commitment to the company (one of the three founders of the company in 1987, managing director from 1987 to 2000 and Chairman of the Supervisory Board from 2000 to 2016). At the constituent meeting of the Supervisory Board immediately after the AGM, Georg van Hall was elected as Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Previously, van Hall held the position of Deputy Chairman; he has been a member of the committee since 2009.
In its report at the Annual General Meeting, the Executive Board particularly discussed the 2015 financial year, product innovations that have recently been launched or are to appear on the market in the near future, and the expansion of the Gelsenkirchen site that has been under way since April. The presentation is available online (http://masterflexgroup.com/en/investor-relations/hauptversammlung.html). As well as discussing the past year, the shareholders particularly used the general debate to discuss the question of a profit distribution. A shareholder association had put forward a corresponding counterproposal. The Executive Board, which is one of the large-block shareholders with a holding of more than 6%, made it clear that the Masterflex Group is essentially a dividend-paying stock. It stated that if the 2016 financial year should be as successful as expected, then it was highly conceivable that dividend payments would begin in 2017. Dr Andreas Bastin commented: "We will attach great importance to a sustainable dividend policy, i.e. long-term continuity with regard to the amount of the dividend." The time up until then would be used to further increase the efficiency of the company's processes. The management's proposal of retaining the net profit of €4.1 million was followed by a majority of 98.5%.
Voting Results
Agenda_item | Description | Shares with valid votes | Represented capital % | Yes votes
absolute | Yes votes % | No votes % | Absten- tions absolute |
2 | Appropriation of Net Profit | 3,621,408 | 40.85 | 3,567,388 | 98.51 | 54,020 | 1,279,931 |
3 | Approval of Executive Board | 4,352,289 | 49.09 | 4,347,927 | 99.90% | 4,362 | 600 |
4 | Approval of Supervisory Board | 4,541,822 | 51.23 | 4,538,090 | 99.92% | 3,732 | 601 |
5 | Election of auditors | 4,900,269 | 55.27 | 4,894,433 | 99.88 | 5,836 | 1.070 |
6 | SB elections |
| |||||
| 6a | Dr. Gerson Link | 4,898,864 | 55.26 | 4,896,893 | 99.96 | 1,971 | 2,475 |
| 6b | Jan van der Zouw | 4,899,414 | 55.26 | 4,420,296 | 90.22 | 479,118 | 1,925 |
7 | Appointment of Honorary Chairman | 4,900,539 | 55.27 | 4,896,077 | 99.91 | 4,462 | 800 |
8 | Approval of Executive Board compensation | 4,490,573 | 50.65 | 4,481,917 | 99.81 | 8,656 | 410,766 |
9 | Acquisition/utilisation of treasury shares | 4,899,938 | 55.27 | 4,850,859 | 99.00 | 49,079 | 1,401 |
10 | Authorisation for authorised capital 2016 | 4,899,227 | 55.26 | 4,844,124 | 98.88 | 55,103 | 2,112 |